Coker said he expects Eric Soza’s return this season

UTSA coach Larry Coker said Wednesday that he expects injured quarterback Eric Soza to return at some point this season.

While Coker left the door open that Soza’s return could come as soon as Saturday at the Alamodome, it seems that the coach has settled on Ryan Polite as the starter for the Utah State Aggies.

“No, he (Soza) has not been cleared yet,” Coker said Wednesday morning. “He’s practicing but he hasn’t been cleared yet. So we’re kind of on hold with him. We’re planning on Ryan (Polite) being our quarterback, and so we move on.”

Polite has run the offense at practice in each of the three practices this week. Soza, who has a fractured right hip, has been practicing. But he can’t take contact or play in a game until he is cleared medically.

UTSA (5-2, 1-1 in the Western Athletic Conference) faces one of its biggest challenges with Utah State (6-2, 2-0). Utah State is 11-3 in its last 14 games dating back to last season.

Next week, the Roadrunners return to the road against WAC heavyweight Louisiana Tech.

Coker said he isn’t planning to take the redshirt off Tucker Carter to bolster depth at the position. So, the plan, tentatively, is for Soza to return sometime in the team’s five-game stretch to the end of the year.

“Oh, I think he’ll be back,” Coker said. “I really do. That’s kind of the thoughts that we’ve had, because we’re not bringing anyone (at quarterback) out of redshirt. So I definitely think he’ll be back.”

Coker emphasized that opinion is his alone.

“Obviously I’m not the doctor,” the coach said. “But we expect him to be back. I think it may be this week. It may be next week. It may be the week after. So, hopefully he’ll be back for the remainder of the season.”

Soza suffered the injury on Oct. 13 at Rice. After sitting out a series, he re-entered the game late in the second quarter. After intermission, he played the entire second half of a 34-14 loss.

A few days later, he was ruled out medically. And with Polite at quarterback and Soza on the sideline offering encouragement, the Roadrunners dropped a 52-24 decision to San Jose State.

Coker is pleased that Soza has stayed in close contact with the team since he was ruled out, dressing in pads and attending every practice.

“I think it’s huge,” Coker said. “Again, and it hasn’t been a deal of ‘Eric, you need to be here. You need to be a cheerleader. You need to do this. You need to do that.’ That’s just him.

“No, you don’t have to tell him that. He just knows that.”

The coach said Soza was hurting inside to watch from the sidelines last weekend.

“Obviously, it’s killing him,” Coker said. “He wants to be out there. But yet, he wants us to be successful, (to) have a chance to win. He’s going to do everything he can to help out our football team. So, yes, it’s really huge and it says a lot about him.”